Baywatch star Nicole Eggert battling breast cancer

Nicole Eggert was diagnosed with breast cancer in December.

In an interview for People magazine published on Tuesday, the Baywatch actress revealed she was diagnosed with stage two cancer after feeling "terrible pain" in her left breast and noticing a lump during a self-exam.

"It really was throbbing and hurting," she recalled. "I immediately went to my general practitioner and she told me I had to immediately go get it looked at. But the problem was I just couldn't get an appointment. Everything was booked. So I had to wait until the end of November to get it done."

She also gained 25 pounds (11 kilograms) in three months but assumed that it was a symptom of menopause.

After a mammogram and three biopsies, Nicole's tests showed she had cancer.

She is due to have surgery to try and remove the lump and will also receive some treatment.

"It needs to be taken out," the 51-year-old continued. "So, it's just a matter of do I have to do treatment before the surgery or can they perform the surgery and then I do the treatment after."

She admitted: "This journey's been rough for me."

However, Nicole's trying to stay positive.

"I always read inspirational quotes and corny stuff, but it gets me through," she added.

Nicole played a lifeguard for two seasons on the hit show Baywatch, alongside Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff.

She has two daughters; Dilyn, 25, whom she shares with ex-husband Justin Herwick, and Keegan, 12, whose father has never been publicly revealed.

"(Dilyn's) an adult, but I have a 12-year-old at home where I'm the only caregiver," she said. "I have no family. I have nothing. It immediately made me realise, there's just no succumbing to this. This is something I have to get through. This is something that I have to beat. She needs me more than anything and anybody."